Tale

Review of the game Ayo: A Rain Tale for iPhone, iPad and Mac: Child of the Sahara in search of drinking water

19/12/2021 by

We are used to taking a lot of things in our life for granted. Except in exceptional cases, we almost never have to worry about phenomena such as famine or drought. The key motive of the game Ayo: A Rain Tale it is water – a vital liquid, which in a modern civilized society is easier than ever to get, you just need to turn the tap or buy a bottle in a store.

Download Ayo: A Rain Tale for iPhone and iPad (App Store)

But the main character of the game, a girl named Ayo, is not so easy to get water. She will have to go through a lot to get the precious liquid for her family.

In essence Ayo: A Rain Tale is a platformer, though not as good as we would like. If the game was conceived as complex, then it would be better if errors arose through the fault of the player, and not the developers. Although Ayo: A Rain Tale is not difficult, Ayo now and then has to grab onto the ledges of the platform to get up. Sometimes you know for sure that you can jump, but Ayo stubbornly refuses or grabs a platform, which she is unlikely to be able to climb. At times it may seem that the jump is possible, but in fact it is not.

There are also puzzle elements in the game, but these are mostly related to platforms that Ayo can only stand on depending on the activated color. They are not so hard to solve with limited movements (like switching colors in the air), especially with a lot of practice. However, even simple jumps require precise control and movement.

Another aspect that needs improvement is zoom in and out. Depending on the availability of free space, the camera can zoom in very strongly, however, when you get into more open area, it immediately moves away. Sometimes it doesn’t matter. However, in some places, there are constant leaps of zoom, and you have to wait to see where to jump next. I must say, this is very annoying, because you can hold the camera at the same angle, and everything will be clearly visible.

♥ ON TOPIC: The best games for iPhone and iPad according to the version of Yablyk: 100 most-most.

Due to jumps in the zoom, not everything is clear with deaths. If Ayo falls from a height somewhere down with no visible surface to land, she will die. At the same time, if the land is visible, then Ayo will survive. It is annoying when you know for sure that there is ground below, but you cannot see it due to the approach, and Ayo dies.

It is also unpleasant if the heroine refuses to make jumps when you know for sure that they are possible. Nevertheless, if, because of the above-mentioned unpleasant little things, you quit the game at the very beginning, you will voluntarily give up many pleasant and interesting moments. If you can get past the beginning, things will get much better and you won’t be able to come off.

One of the most mysterious moments of the game is the music, or rather, its absence. Why Ayo: A Rain Tale lacks a soundtrack is unknown. Music is in the game menu, but when you start playing, it disappears somewhere and appears only at certain moments. Sound effects help you navigate the game, but over time they become annoying. Music would add a little variety to the process and add the appropriate atmosphere.

From a visual point of view, there are no complaints about Ayo: A Rain Tale. The game is colorful and very realistic. Interestingly, Ayo’s clothes change depending on the currently activated color. The background image is a little boring, but this is only at the beginning, and then the background becomes more varied.

The creators of Ayo: A Rain Tale have gone to great lengths to showcase the hard lives of sub-Saharan African women. In order to get drinking water, they have to carry heavy bales on themselves. Nevertheless, it is not entirely clear why young girls should do this, because there are probably stronger men in the village. There is no shortage of drama and tension in the game that lasts until the very end. Undoubtedly, Ayo: A Rain Talemay not be as tearful as some, but the emphasis is on gameplay rather than emotion.

In summary, Ayo: A Rain Tale is a solid enough game with a few minor flaws. If you do not expect from her special complexity or intricate plot, the game will appeal to many.

Download Ayo: A Rain Tale for iPhone and iPad (App Store)

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What Remains of Edith Finch review: a touching tale of misfortune, curse and negligence

01/09/2021 by ALOK DAS

For most people, games are a time killer that allows them to disconnect from reality and pressing problems for a while. But there are also projects of a different kind. They, like elite alcohol, leave a unique and deep aftertaste. Some games throw up philosophical questions, so much so that you want to stop, think and go somewhere in yourself. Others, with their created visual images and music, take us to a special world that we want to breathe.

Download a game What Remains of Edith Finch (App Store)

Sometimes even the story itself fades into the background. Such games are always an event and always mini-masterpieces, showered with the attention of critics and true connoisseurs. It is no coincidence that the adventure game What Remains of Edith Finch has received numerous nominations and victories in various categories. This is exactly the case when the creators managed to create something that does not leave you indifferent and makes you think about things that are important for every person.

How such works are born is another interesting story. Giant Sparrow made its debut in the award-winning Swan Sketch game. The developers realized that their ideas find their admirers – the next project should be something sublime, in a similar way interacting with the beautiful and at the same time stunning. Interestingly, the original foundation of the idea was completely different. The head of the studio, Ian Dallas, decided to use his scuba diving experience – this was to be the theme of the game. The immersion of the ocean in darkness at depth beckoned and guaranteed a mystical experience and mysteries. But in the end, the developers did not like the ideas of diving, but the images of the shark, fish and pop-up inscriptions in What Remains of Edith Finch were found. However, the game is not at all about the ocean and its inhabitants, but about something else – about death and its place in our life. Apparently, the bottomless depths just inspired something like that. The topic seems scary and gloomy, but the developers approached it carefully and carefully, which prevents depressive thoughts from developing.

The main character of the game is Edith Finch, and the action itself takes place on Orcas Island, Washington state. The woman’s great-grandfather in 1937 decided to move to America from Norway, fleeing the family curse. For some reason, all Finches died prematurely, only one descendant remained alive to continue the family line. But fate did not leave the fugitives alone – the head of the family drowned near the shores of his new homeland, and his descendants built a house on the island, which will become the main game stage. Finches continued to die tragically, after which the bedroom of the departed relative was left untouched in the house. At first it was the paranoia of the inconsolable mother, and then it became a kind of family rite. And for new family members, additional floors and rooms were completed. Edith received the keys to the house from her mother. Her brothers, of course, died. And our heroine finds herself in an abandoned, mysterious, mysterious place to try to unravel the mystery of the family curse or find out more about the origin of the Finches. It turns out that the rooms are sealed, but each of them has a peephole, and the key opens secret passages.

Each room is a kind of epitaph for the departed relative of Edith. Everything in the room remained exactly the same as it was at the time of the death of the owner. With the help of furnishings, objects or an unfinished diary, we are invited to find out what this member of the family was like. Moreover, we can observe with our own eyes the last moments of his life. Magical realism is provided by short locations and emotional interactive sketches. The ability to “live” important minutes in someone else’s body makes the player an accomplice and allows you to feel more deeply in this story. The gameplay itself is simple – we just move from room to room, looking for hidden loopholes. Interaction with some “shrines” in the rooms frozen in time reveals more and more new stories to us. To run them, you need to flip through a notebook, then watch a drawn cartoon …

The initially gloomy picture with a series of deaths becomes acutely emotional and close. The journey around the house itself is very interesting – like the island itself, it is full of vivid and precise details. It seems that everything here has a meaning. And each room has its own secret, its search turns into a mini-game. The habitats of the deceased Finches are literally permeated with their feelings, thoughts, character traits. And every little thing can make a difference, deeper revealing the character of the owner of the room. These are his photographs, books, personal belongings.

The deceased inhabitants of the house are constantly taking our attention. We are invited not to save them, but to bring them to death. And it is pointless to resist it, you can only postpone it for some moments. The developers are trying to convince us that we should not be afraid of the inevitable (especially since it does not happen to us). We must accept and appreciate the aesthetics of these moments. The stories themselves are short, but different in presentation. There are both whole short films and just episodes or parables. We may not always find ourselves even in a human body – this is the mind that one of the Finches had. And in a couple of stories and from a place you will not have to move, just waiting for the inevitable. All deaths are unique in their own way, presented as an incredible adventure. Not without a riddle, a family monster. With the passage of the game, the family tree in the heroine’s diary comes to life, and each of the stories can then be relived anew.

The creators of What Remains of Edith Finch managed to fit a whole family saga into several hours of gameplay. The game is often compared to the novel by Marquez “One Hundred Years of Solitude”, but the similarity is only superficial. Still, Marquez has a much more spreading family tree, and the aftertaste is completely different, more painful. The compactness of the game, its story and world, made it possible to provide charm even on such a slippery plot field. True, some understatement remained, allowing us to think out the ending ourselves.

The game What Remains of Edith Finch touches with the fact that it very carefully touches on an important topic in the life of every person – death. Here we are faced with a whole series of them, but not just watching, the game presents them under the guise of a mysterious family curse. Observing strangers to us, painstakingly written by artists, one involuntarily ponders what will remain after us. Those who are not affected by What Remains of Edith Finch will see it as a fleeting walking simulator or just an uncomplicated quest, but most often the game is perceived as some kind of atmospheric philosophical parable. Each product of this kind is a kind of work of art that you want to recommend and live again.

Download a game What Remains of Edith Finch (App Store)

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Tick Tock: A Tale for Two is a game for iPhone and iPad that can only be played by two people

09/07/2021 by ALOK DAS

It’s no secret that it’s more fun to play together. You can do it in different ways. Players can replace each other or simply observe, prompt. But it is much more interesting to act together, solving the same problem together. It can be killing enemies, defusing bombs, racing against the clock. Players can have their own characteristic abilities, the use of which will lead to the final success.

Download a game Tick Tock: A Tale for Two for iPhone and iPad (App Store)

The title of the game Tick Tock: A Tale for Two already says that this story is for two. Here we are offered to work together on a puzzle, and the beauty is that one player, whatever his talents, will not pull the team out. Moreover, passing Tick Tock on your own simply will not work. Intriguing, isn’t it?

After loading, we are asked to choose whether we want to be the first or second player. It is possible to find a partner on the local network, but he may simply be physically nearby and start simultaneously passing on his gadget. A direct connection between devices is not required, this allows you to play without the Internet and even on different platforms.

Each player has certain items on the screen that will need to be described to a partner. The fact is that partners will see pieces of the puzzle in front of them. If one has a broken pocket watch, then the other has an instruction on how to repair it. The puzzle can be shared, and the clues to it are shared between the players. Even a proposal can be torn in two. It’s good if your partner is physically nearby, but no one bothers to communicate using instant messengers or e-mail. You just need to agree in advance about the simultaneous start of the passage. The creators of the game clearly encourage active communication, because without it, it is easy to miss some details of the story.

The game’s plot is pretty simple. We are offered to introduce ourselves to one of the two sisters, Amalia or Lurke. They were born into a family of watchmakers. In addition, they adore Scandinavian fairy tales and complex puzzles. Actually, the mixing of these components forms both the storyline and a series of riddles. Players will have to find out what happened many years ago, and why Lurke disappeared. Completing puzzles and finding new items will allow you to learn more about the history of the family. The game world itself is small, with four locations. They change as the story unfolds.

♥ BY THEME: Best games for two for iPhone and iPad: 30 most-most.

Game mechanics are traditional for the puzzle genre. There is no need to run / shoot anywhere. Using the touch screen or the mouse pointer, you will have to select and move objects, press, twist and click. Reading the text and thinking is a must for this game.

From a visual point of view, Tick Tock is hardly a masterpiece. The interiors, objects and even the neighboring forest are hand-painted with a clear touch of Scandinavian laconicism. The main thing here is the gloomy atmosphere and muted tones. But any elements of the puzzles are drawn in detail in order to better understand what exactly needs to be paid attention to. Animation effects look interesting, for example, focusing on letters. The soundtrack was also laconic. There is no background music in the game at all, and you will have to listen to rain, radio and telephone systems. However, this makes sense – sounds can interfere with communication with your partner. Everything that can be voiced also appears on the screen in the form of text.

Tick Tock: A Tale for Two offers an exciting new multiplayer gaming experience. The idea of having to communicate for the sake of progress in the passage is quite new. Tick Tock is laconic and its puzzles are simple. But this is precisely what makes us recommend it for joint passage in the evening. It only takes a couple of hours to keep players from getting bored and complaining about repetitive tasks. The game reveals an interesting story and leaves that very pleasant light feeling of hunger from its completion.

The game is available in Russian.

In the meantime, there is no need to worry about it. ”

Download a game Tick Tock: A Tale for Two for iPhone and iPad (App Store)

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Review of the game Ayo: A Rain Tale for iPhone, iPad and Mac: Child of the Sahara in search of drinking water

27/03/2021 by ALOK DAS

Download Ayo: A Rain Tale for iPhone and iPad (App Store)

But for the main character of the game, a girl named Ayo, it is not so easy to get water. She will have to go through a lot to get the precious liquid for her family.

In essence Ayo: A Rain Tale is a platformer, though not as good as we would like. If the game was conceived as complex, then it would be better if errors arose through the fault of the player, and not the developers. Although Ayo: A Rain Tale is not difficult, Ayo has to grab onto the ledges of the platform every now and then to get up. Sometimes you know for sure that you can jump, but Ayo stubbornly refuses or grabs a platform, which she is unlikely to be able to climb. At times it may seem that the jump is possible, but in fact it is not.

There are also puzzle elements in the game, but they are mostly related to platforms that Ayo can only stand on depending on the activated color. They are not so difficult to solve with limited movements (for example, switching colors in the air), especially with good practice. However, even simple jumps require precise control and movement.

Another aspect that needs improvement is zoom in and out. Depending on the availability of free space, the camera can get very close, however, when you get into a more open area, it immediately moves away. Sometimes it doesn’t matter. However, in some places, there are constant leaps of zoom, and you have to wait to see where to jump next. I must say, this is very annoying, because you can hold the camera at the same angle, and everything will be clearly visible.

♥ BY TOPIC: The best games for iPhone and iPad according to the Yablyk editorial board: 100 most-most.

Due to the leaps of the zoom, not everything is clear with the deaths. If Ayo falls from a height somewhere down with no visible surface for landing, she will die. At the same time, if the land is visible, then Ayo will stay alive. It is annoying when you know for sure that there is ground below, but you cannot see it due to the approach, and Ayo dies.

One of the most mysterious moments of the game is the music, or rather, its absence. Why Ayo: A Rain Tale lacks a soundtrack is unknown. Music is in the game menu, but when you start playing, it disappears somewhere and appears only at certain moments. Sound effects help you to navigate during the game, but over time they become annoying. Music would add a bit of variety to the process and add the appropriate atmosphere.

The creators of Ayo: A Rain Tale have gone to great lengths to showcase the hard lives of sub-Saharan African women. In order to get drinking water, they have to carry heavy bales on themselves. Nevertheless, it is not entirely clear why young girls should do this, because there are probably stronger men in the village. There is no shortage of drama and tension in the game that lasts until the very end. Certainly Ayo: A Rain Talemay not be as tearful as some, but the emphasis is on gameplay rather than emotion.

To summarize, we can say that Ayo: A Rain Tale is a solid enough game with a few minor flaws. If you do not expect special complexity or intricate plot from her, the game will appeal to many.

Download Ayo: A Rain Tale for iPhone and iPad (App Store)

In the meantime, there is no need to worry about it. ”

See also: